


Angel With a Shotgun

by Diary



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison Argent & Derek Hale Friendship, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Aunt-Niece Relationship, Bechdel Test Pass, Conversations, Established Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Established Relationship, F/M, Friendship/Love, Interspecies Friendship, Interspecies Romance, POV Derek Hale, POV Male Character, POV Nonhuman, Pack Family, Romance, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 08:22:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6366676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Repost. Allison breaks into Kate's apartment one night and quickly learns the truth about their family. Told from Derek's POV. Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angel With a Shotgun

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.

The tiny sound of someone picking the front door lock has him wide-awake. Taking a breath, he focuses his senses.

It’s Kate’s niece. He’s never met her, but Kate has received presents from her in the past, and the scent on them matches. She’s angry, confused, and vaguely scared, but there’s no terror, and he can’t detect any physical injuries.

Reaching over, he places his hand on Kate’s shoulder and carefully squeezes. “Kate, wake up.”

Automatically, she has her Taser baton in her hands even as she blinks rapidly. “’s wrong?”

Covering his mouth and trying to keep the amusement out of his tone, he tells her, “Your niece is picking the lock.”

“Allison.” She looks at him with still bleary eyes. “She’s in Nevada. Pretty sure I told you that.”

Outside, the girl sighs when the lock clicks.

“Listen,” he orders.

The sound of the door’s ever-so-slight creak has Kate bolt up and utter quiet curses. “Dressed,” she hisses. As she struggles with her own clothes, she continues, “Let me do the talking.”

As she fumbles around the room, he puts the Taser inside her nightstand and checks to make sure all of her other weapons are tightly locked up. Her niece is seventeen, loves archery, and he imagines she’s been around weapons her whole life, but he knows the statistics for accidental deaths when it comes to underage children and improperly secure weapons.

By the time they’re both dressed, the girl is lying down on the couch and taping her fingers against the soft fabric.

Following Kate out, he turns on the living room light.

The girl jumps up with a set of Chinese ring daggers aimed but drops them immediately when she lays eyes on Kate. “Kate! I’m sorry. For everything. I had a major-”

Her eyes land on Derek, and the smell of confusion, embarrassment, and curiosity assaults his nose.

She gulps. “Oh. God. I’m so sorry- I didn’t even think that you might have-”

This time her words are cut off by Kate pulling her into a hug. When she relaxes into it, Kate kisses her head, “Hey, sweetie. It’s okay. Let’s sit down. We’ll discuss you’re belief I’m either a nun or profoundly unattractive, later. Do you need something to eat or drink?”

“No,” Allison practically exhales. “Thanks for not yelling.”

“Sweetheart, when have I ever yelled at you?” She guides Allison onto the couch. “Now, what’s going on?”

Allison looks over at him with her nose slightly scrunched, and it hits him how much she resembles Kate. Physically, they only share a few similarities, mostly in bone structure, but her expressions, her graceful, powerful movements, and the indomitable quality to her eyes are all reflections of Kate.

Following her eyes, Kate says, “Right. Allison, this is Derek. He’s, uh- Oh, screw it." Rolling her eyes, she says, “Honey, this is Derek Hale. We occasionally have sex. We’re not dating, but I would trust him with my wallet. You’re old enough to understand this sort of thing.”

As Allison’s pale skin flushes and turns ashen, she bops her head and chances a brief glance at him. “I am, and whatever you do is your business, Aunt Kate. I’m sorry for breaking in. If I’d known you had company, I wouldn’t have- I would have waited until morning.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Kate replies. “But what’s going on, kiddo?”

“Mom and I had a huge fight,” Allison says with a shuddery breath. “Dad’s out of town, but I know he would have taken her side. I just couldn’t breathe, anymore. I know that sounds like melodramatic teenage angst, but I mean I literally couldn’t stay without feeling like I was going to sick.”

“Oh, sweetheart, that isn’t melodramatic teenage angst." Gathering Allison into a hug and stroking her hair, Kate says, “Whether she’s right or not, I know how much of a bitch your mom can be. She and I have come to blows in the past. Unfortunately, we have to call her. But I promise, if it becomes necessary, you can stay with me for as long as you want. Okay?”

Sniffling, Allison nods. “Thank you.”

“Does she know you left?”

He slips back into the bedroom.

Tuning out their conversation, he changes the sheets. They always use condoms, partly to minimise clean-up and partly as a further safeguard against pregnancy, but he knows Allison usually ends up sleeping in bed with Kate when she visits, and hopefully, a clean set of sheets will prevent her from thinking about what her aunt and he did earlier.

When he’s done, he deposits the other sheets in the laundry hamper, puts on his shoes and socks, and grabs his phone and both of their wallets.

“The window on the third floor is a little small, but I can teach you how to jump from it,” Kate is saying.

He pauses in the bedroom doorway.

Her eyes are wide and dancing as she looks at her niece, her mouth is softly curled, and her head is slightly tilted.

Over the years, he’s seen her smile numerous times, and he’s been everything from captured, tortured, and arrested when mischief has struck her, but until now, he’s never seen such an unrestrained, genuine look of happiness on her face.

As the thought forms, a memory hits, and he does remember the one time she graced him with such a look.

Shaking his head slightly, he walks over. “Do you need money for breakfast?”

Allison gives them both an alarmed look, and he realises some of the ways she could interpret his question.

“I’ll look,” Kate says. Grabbing her wallet, she pauses when she sees Allison’s face. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I have money, but I don’t have my bankcard. I accidentally washed it with my clothes, and my bank is taking its sweet time in giving me a new one.”

He’s briefly taken aback by her lie but quickly remembers Allison doesn’t know about the supernatural or her family’s hunting of it.

In truth, Kate had given chase to an omega. The omega jumped off a bridge, and she’d followed. Once she’d dragged him out, her shoes, wallet, and bankcard were all ruined. If not for her phone’s water-resistant case, it probably would have been, too.

His mother had scolded her for it, but she’d simply pointed out she’d dove from much higher heights in the past.

“Yes,” she answers.

He opens his wallet, sees he doesn’t have enough physical money to cover the two, and hands over one of his own cards.

“Thank you,” she says. Standing up, she gives him a gentle kiss. “ _Call_ me when you get home.”

He nods.

They don’t fight often, but she used to get absolutely furious when he’d text instead of calling to announce he’d gotten home. She doesn’t mind texting at other times, but, “Anyone can send a text from anywhere, sweetheart. If there’s something wrong, I have a better chance of picking it up in your voice than I do reading it on a screen.”

“You’re leaving,” Allison says. “Because of me?”

“Yes,” Kate answers.

If it weren’t so hard to keep his amusement at Allison’s reaction to Kate’s bluntness under control, he’d reassure her. As it is, he fidgets and says, “Don’t worry.”

Kate is fully awake, but he suspects she isn’t fully mentally grounded in the situation. He’s heard her on the phone with her niece a few times, and her customary straightforwardness has always had a softer mould to it.

“Sweetie,” Kate reaches over to take Allison’s hand, “Derek doesn’t mind.”

Catching Allison’s eyes, he nods.

“We can have a girl’s night,” Kate continues.

Allison’s vitals show excitement at the prospect, but she protests, “But there’s no need. I won’t bother the two of you, and you won’t bother me.”

“The thing is,” Kate says, “I’d trust Derek with you, but your parents don’t know him. They’d skin me alive for letting him stay over the night while you’re here. Now, stop feeling guilty, kiddo. I like him well enough, but I’d always choose your company over his. He understands that.”

“We’ll see each other soon,” he promises. “She has my card, remember?”

Kissing Kate, he leaves.

…

“What was the fight about,” his Uncle Peter inquires.

Spreading some jam on his cousin’s toast, Derek shakes his head. “No fight between Kate and me. Her niece, on the other hand, had an argument with Victoria and showed up last night.”

“Thank you,” Kelsie says when he hands her the toast. “How old is Aunt Kate’s real niece?”

“Seventeen,” he answers.

“Kelsie, you’re Kate’s niece, too,” his sister, Cora, says. She tries to retrieve her homework from Peter. “Blood doesn’t always make family, just like it doesn’t always make pack.”

Derek’s response is cut off by his mother’s hand on his neck.

“Tell Kate she’s welcome to bring her niece to Sunday dinner.”

He nods, and his mother moves over to look at the homework Cora has finally retrieved.

…

“This niece, is she pretty?”

Derek pauses, sets the bottle of dish washing liquid back on the counter, and looks at Peter for a long moment. “She’s seventeen,” he finally says, “and if you go near her, you won’t be able to accuse me of choosing a hunter over pack when I watch Kate kill you. My mother, your sister, our alpha, will make sure Kate has on the proper safety gear and insist on feeding her cookies and beer once you’ve been completely cut in half.”

“It’s interesting your mind went there,” Peter comments. “Since when have I shown inappropriate interest in underage girls besides when I was underage myself? In which case, yes, I’ll admit, some of my thoughts were inappropriate even then, but it was the normal, natural sort. The Argents have good genes, for humans. I’m just wondering if she takes after your lady love, Chris, or the Argent matriarch.”

“She’s pretty,” Derek answers. “She’s a mixture of all of them.”

“Why did your mind automatically go there?”

“Because you’ve tried to kill my girlfriend,” he grits out. Picking up the soap, he continues, “I love you, Peter, but I know that being afraid of you going after an innocent teenager to achieve your goals isn’t unfair or unreasonable on my part.”

“In fairness, she tried to kill me first.”

“That was an honest mistake, which, as you’ll recall, she did apologise for."

“The one and only time,” Peter retorts.

“I’m not exactly saying she was justified the other times, but the argument could be made she was.”

“Yes, the ever popular justification of, ‘I don’t want to lose my booty call,’” is the biting response. “Or have you gone past using ‘girlfriend’ as a family-friendly substitution and actually entered into a legitimate relationship with her?”

“That won’t happen,” he answers.

...

Turning off his car near the apartment complex, he focuses his senses, and bubbly laughter catches his ear. “Kate!”

Ignoring their conversation, he gets out his tablet and starts working on his latest translation. His job as a literary translator usually has him in his family’s basement doing long hours of research to find the most appropriate words to turn religious texts and historical documents written in ancient languages into accurate, yet easily readable works of more modern languages, but his latest translation isn’t part of his job.

His older sister, Laura, has a roommate who’s in love with anything involving Sherlock Holmes and is currently failing her Intro to Russian class. Laura is hoping a copy of the complete works of Conan Arthur Doyle’s detective and his biographer in Russian will help bring her grade up.

He’s just about finished with one of the stories when he hears, “I’m going to the store. Why would I need a Taser?”

“Okay,” Kate laughs. “But you’ve got your cell, right?”

“Yes,” Allison answers. “You know, Mom and Dad would feel better if you lived in a safer neighbourhood. I know teaching self-defense and working part-time as a lifeguard doesn’t-”

“Honey, this neighbourhood is plenty safe." The front door’s opened, and she kisses Allison. “I know you can take care of yourself, but you’ll always be precious cargo to me. Call me if you meet a cute boy and decide to-”

“For both of our sakes, don’t finish that sentence,” Allison orders. “Love you, Kate.”

“Love you, too, my wonderful niece.”

He listens until Allison’s footsteps fade.

...

When he lets himself in, Kate looks up from her place on the couch. “Hey, sweetie." Standing up, she comes over to kiss him and gestures to the tablet, “Did you accidentally subscribe to a porn site, again?”

“I’m still not convinced you or Peter weren’t responsible for that.”

Her eyes gleam as she puts her hand on her chest and gives him a look of exasperated offence. “Me? Why I’d never, ever do something like that. A good, virtuous girl like me.”

“The good is up for debate." Putting his case down, he adds, “And if you’re going to make claims of virtuosity, give me enough warning so that I can get out of striking distance when the lightening descends.”

Tsking and winking, she pulls him down on the couch and climbs into his lap. 

“Mom told me to tell you that Allison was invited to Sunday dinner.”

“Would you mind if I took her up on that,” she inquires.

Hoping the shock isn’t apparent on his face, he quickly answers, “No, of course not.”

She stares into his eyes for a long moment before nodding and relaxing against him. “Good. My brother yelled at me, his daughter, and his wife. My shrew of a sister-in-law, who can tell a person to go to hell and they’ll thank her for the trip, made it clear she thinks I’m an irresponsible piece of trash. They both bitched about Allison’s rapid descent to the dark side. Finally, it was agreed Allison should stay here until next Friday or Saturday. At least, I can say she got one really good home-cooked meal.”

“Does she have any allergies?”

“No. She’s-”

The door bursts open and is immediately slammed shut. “Kate,” Allison breathes out, “please, tell me California doesn’t have any wolves. We might need to call animal control. Damn it, why didn’t I take that Taser?”

“Stay inside,” he orders. “Keep her safe,” he continues when he sees the look on Kate’s face and remembers whom exactly he’s talking to. “If I’m not back soon, call the police.”

There are some hunters on the police force. They don’t particularly like Kate, but he knows, if there is a new, dangerous werewolf in town, they’ll help her put them down.

Frowning heavily, Kate gives a sharp nod and pulls Allison close to her.

… 

Outside, he quickly finds the groceries Allison dropped.

The Johansson’s dog, Marcus, is happily lapping up soda from one of the now-busted bottles.

Though the Johansson’s insist Marcus is a purebred Siberian husky, Derek is positive Marcus is either a wolfdog or has a wolfdog parent.

Sighing, he flashes his eyes.

Marcus sits.

Derek throws away the unsalvageable groceries, gathers up the salvageable, and motions for Marcus to follow.

…

Entering the apartment, he tells them, “It’s okay.”

Kate sighs in relief and wraps an arm around a barely trembling Allison. “Sweetheart, this is, uh-”

“Marcus,” he supplies.

He begins putting the groceries up.

“Marcus,” she echoes. Leading Allison over, she says, “He might have some wolf in him, but he’s just a big ole puppy. Aren’t you?”

Happily whining, Marcus rolls over onto his stomach.

“He belongs to my neighbours,” Kate continues.

As Kate talks, Derek is almost overwhelmed by the shame, anger, and self-loathing radiating from Allison, and a memory of Kate lying on a hospital bed with deep, jagged wounds of dark red contrasting her too pale skin invades his mind.

None of the wounds had been bite marks from an alpha. He knows it’d take a long time for him to break the habit of visiting her grave, if it had happened.

To this day, he still doesn’t know what had made her go into a situation she knew was too risky, even for her, with absolutely no backup.

What he does know is, if he weren’t paying such close attention to the subtle differences, he’d say he was smelling the exact same scent he smelt all those years ago.

He finishes putting the groceries up, leans down to kiss Kate on the forehead, and leaves.

…

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong,” his mother asks.

“Kate’s bringing Allison over on Sunday. No allergies. She’s recently stopped drinking anything caffeinated, hates yellow cake, and loves peanut butter.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

He sighs. “Do you remember when Kate went after Jami?”

She tenses. “Of course,” she answers. Putting her hand on the back of her neck, she sighs. “I was so afraid you might end up killing yourself taking her pain. But she’s gotten better, hasn’t she, about not being so reckless with her life?”

“Yeah,” he agrees. Explaining what happened earlier, he finishes, “And the thought of a child getting into such a situation is horrible on its own, but this girl- The first time I met Kate, she mentioned Allison. She puts up with stuff she normally wouldn’t from her family for her niece’s sake.”

“Down the line, all this might be a concern,” his mother says. “But right now, they’re both perfectly safe.”

“Thanks, Mom."

…

“A vision,” Peter comments. “Though, perhaps, a deceptive one.”

Looking up from where he’s helping set the table, he sees Kate and Allison through the window.   

Kate is dressed in a tank top, jeans, and sneakers. Allison, on the other hand, is wearing a black dress with flowered patterns, black tights, and pumps. Her hair is curlier, and she’s wearing red nail polish and subtle makeup.

Derek tosses a knife at Peter.

“Derek,” his mother scolds.

Seeing she’s holding Kelsie, he immediately says, “Sorry."

Setting Kelsie down, she looks out the window. “Your uncle’s right. She looks lovely.”

“That isn’t what he said or what he meant,” he insists.

The doorbell rings, and Kelsie runs to answer it.

“Why wouldn’t she use the key,” he wonders aloud.

“Maybe she doesn’t want her niece to know she has one,” Peter suggests.

Derek finishes setting the table when, carrying Kelsie, his sister, Laura, walks in with Kate and Allison. “Harris is the bane of many a student’s high school existence, but since he and Kate are so close…”

Tuning them out, he goes to check on the food.

Kate used sleep with one of the local chemistry teachers, Adrian Harris. As far as he knows, she hasn’t in years. Whether she does or doesn’t shouldn’t matter, but for reasons he can’t explain, he’s found Harris creepy since the first day he sat down in chemistry class.

“Doesn’t that sound great, Derek,” Laura asks. “If Allison enrolled here, we could finally keep Kate rooted in place during the holidays.”

“I wasn’t listening." Smiling at Allison, he asks, “You’re going to stay here?”

She gives a slight shrug. “It’s a possibility.” Looking at his mom, she asks, “What can I do to help?”

“Here,” Laura says, and she shifts Kelsie over to Allison's arms. “Take her, please. Sit down. You and your aunt are guests.”

Peter starts to walk over to where Kate is coaxing Allison into sitting at the table, and reaching over, Derek forcibly redirects him.

“Actually,” Kate says, “Allison would go to her parents during the holidays, and I’d probably do what I always do.”

“That’s why Santa never leaves you many presents,” Kelsie informs her.

“Because she’s bad,” Allison teases, “or because he can’t find her?”

“A combination,” Kate answers. “Letting your big cousin send my list might also be a problem.”

“Un-nuh,” Kelsie says. “Aunt Talia or Cora always sends the emails.”

“Derek is what we charitably call technologically challenged,” an appearing Cora adds. “He once subscribed to a-”

Putting the meatloaf down, he says, “I know pointing out I’m right here will have no effect, but remember Kelsie is, too.”

“So,” Kelsie demands.

Everyone gathers around the table.

“Allison, would you rather have a cheeseburger, too,” his mom asks, and he notices Allison looking at Cora and Laura’s burgers.

“No, thank you,” Allison answers.

“I hate meatloaf,” Laura says. “And Cora just wants to rebel tonight.”

“Sometimes, Cora wants meatloaf, and sometimes, she doesn’t,” Kelsie adds. “When we have crawfish, Uncle Peter fixes catfish for Aunt Kate.”

“That’s nice,” Allison says. She smiles at Peter. “I think you’re the only one I haven’t been introduced to.”

They shake hands.

He gives Kate a worried look, but rolling her eyes, she shakes her head.

“Actually, there’s quite a few you haven’t met, yet,” Peter says. “During special occasions, the rest of our family comes down. However, it’s nice to finally meet you. Perhaps, you can get my niece,” he gestures to Cora, “to expand her wardrobe somewhat.”

“Don’t start,” Kate orders. “Sweetheart, Peter here is a designer in his spare time.”

“Oh, my mom used to work for…”

…

“Thank you for dinner, Talia,” Allison says. She picks up the leftovers. “It was wonderful.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” his mom answers. “If you stay, you’ll have to start coming with your aunt.”

“We’ll see,” Kate says. She nods to Derek, and he starts to walk her and Allison out to the car.

Reaching over, she loops her arm through his.

On instinct, he spins her around and kisses her on her neck.

She laughs, and he’s vaguely aware of Allison’s happy amusement at the scene.

After opening the backdoor, he goes around to the driver’s side and kisses Kate properly.

…

“Hey,” Kate greets the next day. “Come in. Just ignore the blankets and popcorn.”

“Movie night?"

Nodding, she makes her way to the kitchen. “Yeah. Hey, remind me to send some money to Laura. She commandeered her roommate’s copy for me months ago, and I still haven’t sent it back or paid a late fee.”

“Her roommate?”

“The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes." She tosses him a bottle of milk.

“Thank you. I thought you didn’t care for Sherlock Holmes.”

“He’s never really excited me, but this movie is good. Have you ever seen it?”

He shakes his head.

Curling up beside him, she says, “The real story is how Sherlock is in love with Watson, and throughout the film, he just keeps falling deeper. Watson never notices and wouldn’t want to. Sucky premise, most of the time. But in the end, Sherlock keeps being Sherlock Holmes, one of the greatest detectives ever. He deals with the fact it’s never going to happen every day, does some things he knows he shouldn’t to help with the pain, and keeps on going instead of letting it completely define him.”

“Is Allison having trouble with some high school love?”

“No, but the great thing is, the message doesn’t have to be about that,” she answers. “Nothing is going to keep my girl down. I can’t wait until she turns eighteen.”

“So you can introduce her to hunting?”

“Your disapproving tone has been noted and tossed aside. Allison’s going through something of an identity crisis, and she constantly feels weak and scared. I can teach her to protect herself and others. I can give her purpose. And once she realises all that she can do, she’ll have an easier time making decisions about where she’ll go and what she’ll do.”

“If this is your plan, then, why did you bring her over for dinner? Once she learns about werewolves, she’ll learn about my family.”

“With the possible exception of Peter, she isn’t going to be hunting any of them.”

He decides to refrain from pointing out, once Allison knows about werewolves and his family, she’ll either have the same objection as her parents or will, at least, tell them.

“Is she going to be gone for long?”

Turning slightly, she grins wickedly. “All day.”

Then, she pulls him on top of her.

As they kiss, she divests him of his shirt and pulls away so she can lick his chest. Feeling a tingle going up his spine, he reaches down to slide his hands underneath the oversized t-shirt she’s wearing-

The slight creak of the door and the sound of a throat being cleared make him jump up, and he realises he’s looking at Chris Argent.

Chris is radiating disgusted, puzzled anger and has his hand on one of his concealed guns.

Kate looks over, sighs, and slowly stands up. As he grabs his shirt and considers running to the bathroom and escaping via the window in the shower, she demands, “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking, Chris? And where in the hell did you even get a key?”

To his shock, he realises she’s not ashamed or afraid.

“That’s your reaction? I find you- with a werewolf!”

“Yes, that is my reaction,” she answers. “Allison had to pick the lock to get in. If I’m so selective that even my baby niece doesn’t have a key-”

“Speaking of Allison, you had him- when she-”

“Use complete sentences,” she snaps. “Yeah, Allison’s met him. Yesterday, we had dinner at the Hale house. He’s never stayed over when she was here, and as you can see, she’s not here now!”

“You had dinner at the Hale house,” Chris quietly repeats. He glares daggers at Derek. “How serious is this, Kate?”

“None of your damn business.”

“May I talk to my sister in private,” Chris inquires through gritted teeth.

Nodding, Derek starts to automatically move over to kiss Kate before realising doing so would only make things much worse.

Making a noise of disgust, Kate grabs him and refuses to stop kissing him until he returns it.

Once she lets him go, he carefully manoeuvres around Chris.

…

His mother is waiting when he gets home.

“Derek, what’s wrong,” she demands. “I had a horrible feeling, earlier, and I could smell your sadness and confusion a mile away.”

He lets her pull him into a hug. “I’m sorry.”

“What happened?”

“The Argents know about Kate and me.”

…

Later, Peter appears in the basement. “You should know, Allison is jogging in the woods. She’s rather upset about something. None of us have approached her.”

“I’ll go.”

“Derek-”

Appearing, his mother says, “Let him.” Putting her hand on Derek’s neck, she kisses his forehead. “Be careful.”

…

Allison is leaning against a tree and trying not to cry.

“Are you okay?”

She jumps.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What happened with you, Kate, and my dad,” she blurts out. For a second, she looks apologetic, but she barrels on. “I thought they’d be happy. I love my aunt, but I know she’s not big on making connections with people outside of the family. She might not have let you stay over that night, but you’re the first man she’s been seeing that she’s let me be in a room alone with. Now, she and Dad are either glaring or screaming at each other, and my mother- I don’t think she took the news well.”

He briefly wonders if he and Allison have ever been in a room alone together.

“Why don’t I take you back into town,” he suggests. “We can talk more there.”

Wiping her eyes, she nods.

…

To get to the park bathrooms, people must go through a door-free doorway and turn to the left. There’s a door to each bathroom and a long, curved bench within the room behind the doorway.

Once Allison has finished her ice-cream, Derek makes sure there’s no one in either bathroom and leads her over. Inside, he places her against the wall near the doorway and sits down on the bench. “I won’t hurt you. I just need to show you something.”

He hesitates.

Kate, could literally have me dragged out of my house and locked up somewhere and tortured, goes through his head.

Putting the thoughts aside, he rotates his neck and lets himself shift.

Allison gasps, jerks, and starts to step forward with her hand raised before violently yanking it down and pressing herself back against the wall. “You’re-?”

“A werewolf,” he supplies. “I won’t hurt you,” he repeats.

“So, I’m guessing my dad, at least, knows what you are.” She takes a shaky breath. “Is that why he’s so angry?”

He nods.

“Why? I- I don’t know anything about, um, werewolves, but I know you and your family love Kate.”

“My family does,” he agrees. “This is the part where things get even more complicated.”

Taking another breath, she carefully sits down next to him. “Tell me.”

Shifting back to human form, he tells her, “Some werewolves are dangerous. Your family hunts them, to protect humans.”

“Kate’s an actual hero, then,” she says with awed pride.

“Yes. But most hunters, including your family, mistrust all werewolves. They have a strict code. They’ll only kill an adult werewolf if they have absolute proof he or she has killed humans. If absolutely necessary, they’ll kill someone younger, but they try very hard to avoid that. Getting involved with a werewolf- in the technical sense, it’s not breaking the code. But-” he pauses.

“But it’s breaking a lot of implied rules,” she supplies.

“Yes.”

“That’s not right,” she declares.

Surprised, he looks over.

“Some humans are dangerous. If you and Kate-”

“We’re not in love,” he interrupts. “A few years ago, your aunt took down a pack that was terrorising humans, and in the process, saved me. I was going through some things, and she was a beautiful, somewhat dangerous distraction. I pursued her, and she gave me the time of the day. I’ve helped her on hunts, and she’s helped my family. We have sex. I don’t want things to end, but if she decides to, it’s not going to break either of our hearts.”

She sighs. “I should get home.”

“Do you want me to take you?”

“Yes, please,” she answers. “Thank you.”

…

After he hears Allison enter the apartment to the scolding of her father and the irritated worry of Kate, he starts the car and begins backing out.

The sound of a mobile emitter makes him automatically clutch his ears, and before he can get his hands back on the wheel, his door’s opened, and enough electricity goes through him he feels himself losing consciousness.

…

He wakes up chained to an electrified fence.

“Good,” one of the hunters says. He’s blond, somewhat stocky, and has a steady heart. “He’s awake.”

“What do you want? I don’t fit within your code.”

“No, you don’t fit within the Argent code,” the hunter corrects. “Our code, however, is different. We want your sister, Laura.”

“Good luck on finding her, then.”

The hunter shakes his head. “Oh, we know exactly where she is. What we want is information.”

“Try Google.”

A bolt goes through him, and he almost loses consciousness.

Desperately, he grasps for something to help with the pain, and memories fill his head…

…

_He was surrounded by Ennis’s pack when the sound of a shotgun firing filled the air._

_Instinctively, he looked up to see a blonde woman dressed in beige effortlessly hitting her targets._

_One of the wolves started to jump up to the rafter she was standing on, and in response, she jumped down, whacked him with a baton, and shot him in the head as she landed feet-first on his stomach. She quickly took out the others and pointed the shotgun at him for a long moment. “A Hale, huh? Best get home.”_

_She turned, walked off the body, and started to leave._

_“Wait!”_

_Turning, she gave him a bored look._

_“You’re a hunter,” he said._

_“What gave that way? Was it the killing or-”_

_“You’re just going to leave me alone?”_

_“Sorry, kid, but I don’t give rides to wolvies unless I have them tied up in the back of my trunk.”_

_“Wolvies,” he repeated in disgust. “I’m eighteen, and you just killed an entire pack.”_

_“An entire pack has been terrorising nearby towns for months."_

_“But you’re just letting me go.”_

_“I thought about torturing you and maybe going after your family, but then, I decided, nah, too much work, and knowing my brother, he’d only be too happy to pull a gun on me, and that might eventually cause a host of issues in my baby niece. So, yeah. Get back to your family, and have a stellar life, honey.”_

_She smiled, winked, and turned to leave._

_…_

_He found her at a bar. “Can I buy you a drink?”_

_“You’re not old enough."_

_“To drink,” he countered. “Not that that rule should particularly apply to those who can’t get drunk, but- uh, I could buy you one.”_

_Shaking her head, she gave him an amused look. “Sure, why not?”_

_He bought it, and as she drank, she asked, “So, why’d you seek me out?”_

_“You’re beautiful, and you already know about werewolves,” he answered. “And I know about hunting.”_

_“So, you want to take me out?"_

_“I’m not looking for anything serious, but yeah, I wouldn’t, uh, object to that.”_

_“Well, you’re in luck." Reaching over, she ran her hand up his arm. “Serious and I never work out. It usually ends in me being called a bitch and possible bodily harm to the guy.”_

_Finishing her drink, she continued, “One thing: I’m a very honest person. If you don’t want to tell me something, fine. But don’t ever lie to me. Not even a little, harmless one. It won’t end well for you.”_

_“Okay."_

_She smiled at him._

_…_

_She opened the door and looked even worse than she sounded on the phone._

_Holding the bag up, he said, “I know you told me not to come over, but I brought soup and stuff to drink.”_

_“’um in.” She wandered back over to the makeshift fort on the couch._

_He shut the door, sat down next to her, and reached under the blankets until his hand made contact with skin._

_“That feels better,” her muffled voice informed him._

_Letting go, he peeled the blankets away, grabbed some tissues to wipe the sweat off her, and suggested, “Why don’t you try drinking some, at least? I brought some tea, ginger ale, and Gatorade.”_

_Nodding, she leaned back._

_Once everything was set up, she began sipping the soup. With a slight smile on her face, she said, “So, tell me some about yourself.”_

_“Well, I’m going to community college and working on a degree in…”_

_…_

_From the cell, he greeted, “Mom.”_

_In an amused tone, she said, "Come on. Let’s go get this friend of yours out. After this, neither of you have any excuse for her not to come to Sunday dinner.”_

_The door was opened._

_“Mom, if you think you can guilt her, I haven’t told you enough about her.”_

_“You haven’t told me much of anything about her." She reached over to put her hand on the back of his neck. “But obviously, she’s doing something right. Until now, you were the only family member over the age of sixteen who hasn’t been arrested.”_

_“You do remember she’s a hunter who, uh, had that misunderstanding with Peter? And that Cora will be at the dinner, too?”_

_They arrived at the cell._

_“Hello, Miss Argent,” his mom greeted._

_Sitting up from the bed, a grinning Kate waved._

_…_

_Wiping the blood off her face, she declared, “You just don’t understand Mel Brooks’ sense of humour.”_

_Digging the grave, he countered,_ _“And you don’t understand how ground-breaking Jane Austen’s work still is."_

_“You can watch her works with your family anytime you want. If you don’t watch the movies I like with me, no one else will. If I watched them with my niece, her parents would kill me, Adrian can point out the scientific inaccuracy in anything, and the only person in your family who understands Mel’s genius is your uncle.”_

_“So?”_

_“So, I routinely rock your world."_

_“I return the favour,” he retorted._

_“I’ve yet to actually kill your uncle.”_

_“Is that your ultimate last resort?”_

_“No. My ultimate last resort is: I’ll let you pick next week, if we watch what I want this week.”_

_“Okay,” he agreed._

_Smiling, she blew him a kiss._

_…_

_After she got out of the hospital, he took her home, helped her into bed, and sat down with a book._

_She rolled over, looked at him, and gave the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen before curling up closer against him and quickly falling back deep into sleep._

…

The sound of a shotgun being fired and hitting a light bulb jolts Derek out of his memories.

“No,” the hunter mutters.

He quickly locks the door and goes to pick up a weapon, but the shotgun fires again, and Derek looks in amazement as Kate enters clad-in a bulletproof vest and face-concealing helmet.

The hunter charges, and in an instance, she has him convulsing on the floor with her Taser baton.

Going through his pockets, she mutters, “Damn it. Know where he left the keys?”

“No,” he answers.

She turns the fence’s electricity off.

“What are you doing here?”

“Stupid question." Aiming the shotgun, she warns, “This’ll hurt.”

He braces himself, and she shoots the cuffs off his wrists.

To his surprise and relief, she catches him before he falls. “Would it be cliché to call you an angel?”

Laughing, she starts to lead him out.

…

They get to the car, and he gasps.

“Oh, God,” Allison mutters. “Kate, will he-”

“Trunk, sweetheart,” Kate orders.

As Allison opens the trunk, he demands, “You brought her along?”

“He’ll be fine. Remember what I told you?”

Allison nods, and he feels a knife coated with wolfs bane sliding into his gut.

He’s too dizzy to run and too scared he might hurt one of them if he tries swiping.

The trunk’s slammed shut.

He latches onto Kate’s movements.

“Drive as fast as you can, sweetie. Don’t stop until you get there. If cops try to pull you over, call the police and explain there’s an emergency, you’re seventeen, and you will stop once you get to the Hale house but not before. Talia will handle the rest. Okay?”

“Okay,” Allison shakily agrees. “But please, be careful, Kate.”

“I will. I love you, Allison.”

“I love you, Kate.”

The car starts, and he grits his teeth and tries to wrap his hands around the knife for long enough to pull it out.

Buzzing catches his ears, and he hears, “If you shoot at that car, I’ll knock you down and slit your throat.”

There’s a bump in the road, and everything’s black.

…

The knife is out, but moments of lucidity are fleeting. Allison’s strong, warring emotions help, but he doesn’t want her to suffer the way she is.

Reaching over, he touches her hand.

Jumping, she repeats, “I’m sorry.”

“You need to stop. If your aunt thinks something is important, she always finds a way to get what she wants.”

This won’t stop her from being killed one of these days, he knows, and he just desperately prays it’s not now. If he could just keep his lucidity-

As if on cue, his mother appears. “You’re staying, Derek. Allison, your father will be here very soon.”

“Mom-”

There’s a brief flash of red eyes, and he finds himself curling into himself.

Allison looks between them in confusion, and he quickly falls back asleep.

…

The smell of blood and Kate wakes him up.

“Hey, sweetheart." Sitting down, she takes his outstretched hand. “I need to go with Chris and Allison, but don’t worry. I took care of the hunters who wanted Laura. And you’re safe.”

“Is this a dream?”

“No,” she answers.

She kisses him gently, and then, she’s gone.

…

Chris glares.

“I’d like to talk to your sister,” he says.

Shaking his head, Chris holds eye contact. “Kate told me that you’ve never lied to her. I’m going to ask you a question, and it’d be a good idea for you to think carefully before answering and answer honestly when you do.”

“When it comes to hunters, with Kate being an exception, I find it’s a good idea to simply not answer,” he replies.

“Are you in love with Kate?”

He studies Chris carefully.

The question is sincere, but what’s motivating it is a mystery.

Kate is inside, and he can hear the music she’s listening to on her headphones. She seems vaguely annoyed and anxious, but the intensity level is close to her baseline.

Allison is sound asleep in the bedroom, and from the faint scent he’s latched onto, he imagines she’s having a pleasant dream.

“No,” he answers.

He feels his heart skip a beat.

Chris sighs. “Whether you just lied or something else, I promise you, there will come a day you live to regret what you just said.”

“I got to be honest, Chris, if this is your idea of a threat, I expected better from you. I don’t care enough about what you think and feel to bother with a lie. I respect Kate, and I’m very fond of her. I’d never hurt her, and I’d die to protect her. I’ve never lied to her. But you know what? All that also applies to numerous other people.”

Kate appears. “Hey. Let’s go for a walk.”

…

“About telling Allison-”

“I’m glad,” she says. “I’ve wanted her to know for a long time, but Chris and Victoria had a different opinion. Sorry about the knife.”

“Allison was more traumatised than I was.”

“She’s strong. I’m leaving soon. Now that she knows, Chris is going to start training her. I’m going to help.”

“Help?”

“I loved my father. And some of what he taught me has saved my life. Some of it, though- if Chris ever tried it on Allison, I’d kill him with my bare hands.”

He chuckles.

Stopping, she looks at him. “Have a good life, Derek. It’s been fun.”

Swallowing, he nods. Suddenly, he has an almost irrepressible urge to ask if she thought he might be in love with her.

Firmly shoving the thought away, he agrees, “It has been. Be safe.”

“I’ll try to avoid death." Leaning over, she kisses him.

When they break apart, he walks her back to her apartment in silence and leaves once she’s gone inside.


End file.
